Today is #GivingTuesday and is the perfect day to join the buildOn movement! For 3 years, I have been completely immersed in service, education and making a difference with buildOn. My journey has included breaking ground on 22 primary schools in 5 different countries, engaging in meaningful community service alongside incredible high school students in the South Bronx and speaking to large groups of motivated university students about the power of global education. Every single day, we are breaking the cycle of poverty, illiteracy and low expectations through service and education!

From living in villages in Nepal and Senegal, to witnessing the transformational impact international travel has on young people, to experiencing the joy an adult feels when they learn to write their name for the first time; buildOn has provided me with endless opportunities to become a student of the world, and use what I have learned to make a larger positive impact.

It is never too early or too late to get involved with something bigger than yourself! I would LOVE to help you take your first step on that journey. Building a school with buildOn and traveling on Trek can be for ANYONE. In my time leading Treks, I have taken everyone from C-level executives, celebrities, families, college sororities, interior designers and high school students to build primary schools. YOU can fund a school, break ground on that school, live with host families, engage in cultural activities and push yourself outside of your comfort zone!

Let's do this! There is no better time to start than today! Shoot me an email at lucas.turner@buildon.org or comment below and I'll get you started on fundraising for your buildOn school and Trek! Also, if you just want to give to buildOn for #givingtuesday, donate here!

In June 2015, I led a 9 day buildOn Trek of 15 high school students from Boston, to the Ngoleka Village in Malawi, to collaboratively build a primary school. We spent our time in the village physically constructing the school, engaging in immersive cultural activities and spending countless hours bonding with our host families. This Trek was truly one of the most incredible times of my life!

The biggest highlight of a buildOn Trek is living in the homes of the community members, which instantly creates the strongest sense of community and family amongst everyone. Regardless of speaking different languages and coming from completely different cultures, with different customs, beliefs and ideals, everyone becomes extremely close because of the solidarity and teamwork that goes into building a school. Everyone chips in, everyone is invested and everyone is empowered.

Due to that strong sense of community and love, when I was blatantly asked about my future plans for marriage from the Chiefs of the Village, I confidently answered with 100% honesty, even though being gay in Malawi is illegal, and one can serve up to 14 years in prison for being homosexual.

My coming out was met with nothing but outpouring love and acceptance from the Village, inspired my LGBTQ students, and coincidentally happened on a very monumental day in history when the United States Supreme Court guaranteed the right for same-sex marriage!

Earlier this year, I was interviewed by Unite 4 Good, which is an online global community of socially conscious leaders & entrepreneurs. I spoke about everything from studying social entrepreneurship in college, to hustling to make key connections, to living and traveling abroad to the developing world with incredible organizations, to working with inspiring youth from all over the world. Read the entire article here at Unite 4 Good!